Trauma Center: Under The Knife Hands-On

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Atlus gives us 120cc's of originality with this DS doctor sim.

By Nix

We knew that the Nintendo DS, with its unique combination of gameplay controls, touchscreen input and other innovations, would provide new types of game experiences. But we're also getting some new genres with Nintendo's multifaceted handheld ... and some weird ones at that! Who knew that "Doctor Sim" wouldn't be just a one-off idea, and might actually become a genre on DS? Atlus is bringing its take on the videogame version of the medical field to America with its new game, Trauma Center: Under The Knife. After playing the first three levels of the English-language version, we're eager for not only more of this title, but more DS doctor sims!

Originally released in Japan as Caduceus: Surgical Operation, this doc sim focuses on surgeries, with an arcade-style interface once you've scrubbed up and gotten elbows-deep in a body cavity. In between operations, it looks to be that you will be tooling around Hope Hospital and the surrounding areas in Japanese-style text adventure sequences, talking to the nurses and doctors to prepare yourself for further surgeries, to learn more about a mysterious epidemic that seems to be filling up the waiting rooms, and just talk 'scalpel shop' with the game's many characters. You are an inexperienced new doctor, 26 years old Derek Stiles who is finally out of those intern scrubs but still green and just coming into his confidence now that he's no longer a resident. After a training sequence with an experienced nurse, the real game begins as a new and equally unproven young blonde nurse comes in just as hell begins to hit the OR. Together, you two will have to prove yourselves, eliminate this mysterious outbreak, and save these patients!

As far as the story goes, it all sounds fun in a very Japanese dating-sim kind of way (where there are nurses, there will always be flirting.) We're not sure yet the depth of interactivity with this Story Mode side of the game, as the three-level demo available of the upcoming game only had the surgery sections with some linear chat dialog introducing the sequences. Later sequences let players visit areas outside of Hope Hospital (which is, for some reason, set on what looks to be the island in Los Angeles ... this being a Japanese game originally, we're assuming that will change before the game's release later this year.) Even without exploration, there's a lot of dialog to sift through in each story sequence, and there are bits of conversation that players will have to tune in to in order to know what to look for and what to do once the scalpel has opened up the patient.

The game's heart is in its surgery sequences, which proved to be quite a bit of fun and look to be aiming at very complicated play later on in the game. These first three training surgeries in the demo version were mostly coached through by the attending nurse, describing exactly what to do at each step of the procedure, but the last sequence of the demo kept most of the explanation out and tested our true skills with scalpel and sutures. Each instrument in your surgical kit has a different touch control to it for using the instrument on the patient. The Ultrasound, for instance, pings the patient's body where you touch down and shows dark spots that may have tumors or other troubles. Use the scalpel to precisely cut along dotted lines (unfortunately, no -- you can't freehand with the knife and perform your own brand of "elective surgeries".) Pull up on the needle to fill up fluid, then plunge back down to administer it. Carefully pluck at objects with your tweezer (and be careful to pull the correct direction out when you remove objects so as to not cause damage on the way out), then put the removed object on your surgical tray.The suture thread has you zipping back and forth across the wound to close it up. Spread the antibiotic gel on by touch-rubbing the goo on. And finish it up by unfurling a bandage across the scar tissue.

Although there's not a lot of room for improvising in what we've seen so far in the game, the techniques are more or less true to medical procedures, and once you're on your own, there's a lot of challenge in identifying problems and administering treatment. There is also a accuracy measurement for most actions (as well as a running clock -- the patient can't be under too long, or else!), and at the end of each procedure, you are ranked and scored for your performance. Once you finish sequences of the game, the final game will allow players to revisit surgeries and try to improve their time and rank to complete the game 100%.

There's still a lot more to cut into with Trauma Center, so hopefully we'll see a more complete preview edition while we wait for the game's release this winter. These three stages were linear puzzles that only had one solution (and to be honest, there's probably not a lot of room in surgical operation for "four-wheeling"), so it will be interesting to see what challenges the development team can come up with to throw would-be doctors for a loop once they've passed training. The other DS doctor game, Tendo Doctor, has the cuter name, but we're lucky that Atlus decided not to leave Trauma Center as an import-only game, as it was a fun diversion for intrepid DS players. Check out video and screenshots of the game in our media index, and look for more on Trauma Center soon.